PGA Needs more exposure

Hard to believe huh? To even suggest that a sport with an icon like Tiger Woods needs more exposure seem ridiculous.

Or does it? The PGA with Tiger is a machine. The PGA without Tiger is the local State Am.

In my opinion one of the reasons is because the public has not been communicated who else is out there. There can not be a less endorsed group of high profile athletes as the PGA tour - sans Tiger. To give you a strong parallel, they are NASCAR in the late eighties.

In NASCAR in the late eighties, the major corporate sponsors were Valvoline, STP, Shell, Skoal, and maybe Holley (carburetors). Now, let's look around at some of the NASCAR title sponsors - M&Ms, Tide, Kellogg's, US Army, Home Depot, and Budweiser. Most of the major team sponsors of NASCAR in the past were centered around "cars". Today they center around the top consumer products on earth.

Now, fast forward to the PGA. The major sponsors are either tied to golf in some sort of way or some obscure financial advising company. Those sponsors are certainly worthwhile and have provided a significant source of revenue for the PGA players, but I believe the tour needs to figure out ways to break into the consumer product categories. Hell, they copied NASCAR's playoff system in their FedEx Cup, why not follow their business model pertaining to sponsors?

Let's take someone close to Vanderbilt, Brandt Snedeker. All American at Vanderbilt, soon-to-be PGA Rookie of the Year, and top ten on the money list for 2007. Not bad. What would be a perfect product for him to endorse that might fit the above mentioned challenges? (look at him) See that damn million dollar smile? How about Crest? Brandt may or may not continue to have outstanding success on the golf course, but his smile is going nowhere. By Brandt leveraging Crest, and assuming Crest activates around him, he could truly become a household name - at least every time you go to brush your teeth. A mom might bump into his stand up cutout at the grocery store and wonder who is this floppy-haired guy?

NASCAR also does a phenomenal job of getting their drivers to interact with their respective sponsor's clients/fans, thus enhancing the relationship tenfold. In our Brandt example, all those with a Crest toothbrush are allowed entry into an exclusive event with Brandt, or private golf demonstration, etc.

One final brilliant NASCAR strategy that the PGA should copy was the ABC primetime reality series inside the lives of four NASCAR families. Like The Contender meets the Bachelor. As much of a non-NASCAR fan as I am, if I am stuck watching a race I am definitely pulling for Pablo Montoya who apparently is despised by everyone for his aggressiveness. I would say I am a casual PGA fan, but how much do I really know about Jim Furyk? Or Vijay Singh? Zero.

Bottom line, for the PGA to better "Tiger proof" its tour, some creative awareness might need to be discussed in order to create the NASCAR version of the links.

Take care.

Team Effort Escapes Me

At Vanderbilt we recently put together fundraising promotion with our children's hospital. We hoped to sell additional tickets to a conference game that would otherwise not be sold, make a sizable donation to to a worthy cause, and garner the benefit of a local/national celebrity (Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn) endorsing our team and program.

I would rate the promotion at about a B. While we sold some more tickets, and made a decent donation to the children's hospital, we made great strides in branding our department and University as one that cares about our community and a very fine Nashville partner. Many people in the community commented on the generosity in a day and age of college athletics where money and spending is getting out of control. (see $100+M budget at Ohio State).

But this post is to talk about some of the things I learned along the way and the importance of building a consensus in support of a project.

I had the notion that because my fellow employees shared many of the same passions and interests, that the promotion alone would sell itself to them (my fellow employees). I had the thought that they would just blindly follow whatever lead I took in generating support for this cause. However, I think I was mistaken.

I sent an email to the staff of 100+ with some emotional case studies of children in the hospital and three specific bullets o how they could help. One of those options included simply forwarding the email along to their friends and family with a personal note of endorsement at the top. While I do not have data to support this, I have a pretty good hunch that less than 25% of the staff even forwarded the email! Shocking to me.

However, I learned something.

I put myself in their shoes. While I had lived and breathed this promotion for over 6 months, to many this email was probably their first exposure. (even though there was a significant media campaign and press coverage). So, it may have been "just another promotion or University initiative that they are asking me to help" ... delete.

To put it in another example, I asked myself how much I really paid attention to/assisted in communicating our new No Smoking policy. Not much. Why, because it just did not interest me. That is my fault.

In future such big ideas or projects I think I would try a few of the following:

• Over communicate the launch of the idea to the staff
• Communicate using varying mediums - email, voicemail, flyer in their mailbox
• Personally distribute plan including the benefits and opportunity
• Follow up with in person staff meeting visits
• And for this type of event, maybe take as many staffmembers as possible on a tour of the hospital.

I had the thought if I put together a decent idea, the staff would simply do whatever I asked just because we work in the same place. That was wrong. And I will be better for it next time.

Take care.

Predator Possibilities?

By possibilities, I am referring to those possibilities that might exist for Vanderbilt. Since 1998 when Nashville welcomed two professional franchises into the market, we (Vanderbilt) have struggled to keep up. (until recently)

But after the Predators were sold, and much of the speculation is that the team will be moving, we have begun having discussions about making sure those businesses that have supported the Predators fulfill their business needs with their friend who has never left and never will, the Commodores.

-- Allow me to speak as a Nashvillian for a minute. I love my city, and whether I am a Pred fan or not, the Predators are good for the city, even if it means making my job more difficult. The Predators provide a vibrant downtown nightlife that would be nonexistent in the winter months otherwise. Of course, I do not pretend to know the financial situations related to the city's deal with the Preds. --

Back to the topic. The love affair with pro sports has taken a hit recently. We at Vanderbilt have fielded many compliments from those that have defected from the Titans or Predators. After taking our lumps and being knocked down a few pegs in the Nashville sports community, we have attacked the corporate culture with creativity, work ethic, and superior service as related to the corporate community. And the results are showing. Our corporate revenue has taken a sharp increase recently int he sponsorship and hospitality categories.

Now, the opportunity has presented itself to go further on the offensive now that the Predators are facing extinction. We are excited, prepared, and eager to accept this new challenge.

But the challenge will not be easy. The Predator fans are rallying around the chance they could actually play a part in keeping the team in Nashville. They will have the help from local media (who have an obvious vested interest in the team staying), and the target of 14,000 average attendance is an attainable goal. It will be very interesting to see the response of Nashville to the very public 'NEED of ticket sales or lose the team' messages.

For me, I will be happy either way. I just love having the opportunity to learn ... either what to do or what not to do if I am every faced with a similar issue in my professional life.

Take care.

Identity Discovery

Marketing guru.

Biggest Titan fan I know.

Money bags.

Wall Street Journal evangelist.

Tree-hugger.

A Mac is the way to go.

Huge "24" fan

The above phrases are but a few descriptions of people I have heard just in the last 24 hours. Some sound negative. Some are hard to measure. But all are part of a little secret in marketing successfully ... discover a way for your customer to use you in their identity.

People love labels. Labels stick. Bad part is, when you get an identity, it is only as strong as the amount of dilution. In Nashville, it is very hard to be the "biggest Titan fan". Pretty soon, you are just a fan like everyone else.

So what can an organization do to allow customers to identify themselves with your product, yet not make is so diluted they become bored with it?

I do not have an answer, but I am thinking on it. Maybe in the near future I will write more on the subject. This fascinates me.

Take care.

Campaign Copycat

I am not a terribly political person. However, I love a presidential campaign as I tend to learn an awful lot about PR, spin, crisis management, positioning, communication, and most of all marketing.

After surfing a few presidential hopefuls' websites, it dawned on me that college athletic departments can learn a lot from the way a presidential campaign can be complemented online.

Obama 08 was the first that caught my attention. (actually, the first was W's in '04 who apparently was the first to embrace the online medium effectively - I don't count Howard Dean)

Now before I go any further, let me reiterate I do not have a current opinion on any candidate, but I am merely analyzing their campaigns from the online community only. There, I don't want my conservative buddies lined up at the office when I get to work!

Some of the highlights I like that could easily translate to college athletics:

• HUGE "Donate button" - duh
• Answer Center
• Blog - I personally think an athletic fundraising blog should share stories from around the program, coaches, etc
• Well produced video pieces carefully illustrating the message
• Grassroots initiatives online
• Clear objectives - recruiting your vote (fan support) and raise funds
• Calendar of events including volunteer opportunities

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I think this can begin the thinking that would lead to a more active solicitation of an online relationship with a large group of people.

By providing some easy points of entry or new ways for fans of your school to become active, a site can deepen the relationship and emotional bond for a donor or fan.

Take care.

My Playoff Plan

I really do not consider myself an NBA fan, however the past few Mays, I have found myself tuning in and thoroughly enjoying the Playoffs. But, this always makes me wonder why I watch ZERO regular season games.

This morning on the Sports Reporters, one the discussion points was on how insignificant the regular seasons are becoming for every major professional sport.

Almost half the teams make the playoffs for each of the major sports, thus the regular season is getting diluted. And I strongly agree.

But this is something that I have thought for a while, and I think I have a relatively decent solution.

Keep the number of teams in the playoffs, keep the seven game series (obviously this will not apply to NFL), but only play the games on the higher seed's home arena/stadium.

What? Yea, I'll say it again, all games played at the higher seed's home.

It really is not that difficult for a lower seed team to win a series nowadays. All they have to do is steal ONE game on the road and then the 82 game NBA regular season is nullified and the lower seed now has the advantage. It is happening more and more often. Lower seeded teams are winning.

Let's look a little deeper. It is a well known fact that some teams will rest players with nagging injuries, not give their maximum effort, and generally cruise through the regular season should they be good enough o be in the playoffs. Why? Because the seeding carries very little weight. If you had the top team in the NBA, and you had a one game lead on the second place team, but your star tweaked his ankle late in the regular season? Would you rather have your star 100% for the playoffs by resting him, or play him so you can hold on to the top seed? Everyone will do the former.

But, should that team potentially have to play the final series at the No 2 seed's home arena/stadium should they lose the final few games, I think more of them would play.

This plan will put significant emphasis on the regular season and the battle for the seeds.

Of course, you are probably thinking about the lost revenue for the lower seeded team? I have a plan for that too. Pretty simple really. All ticket, concessions, sponsorship, and ancillary revenue produced by the higher seeded team will be split right down the middle with the lower seeded team.

The few drawbacks include taking playoff home games away from half of your markets could jeopardize some of the fan avidity come postseason time. But I think this will be offset by the increase in attention and focus paid to the increased significance of the regular season.

My plan certainly has a few holes, but I think there is not enough on the line during the regular season, and having to play all games on the road of the higher seed's turf could make the regular season a bit more important.

Take care.

The Press is Pressing

I live in Nashville, Tennessee home of the Tennessee Titans. The Titans used to be the Houston Texans.

Why the brief history lesson? The focal point of this post is on John McClain, a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle who is one of my favorite guests on our local radio talk show on WKDF The Zone.

McClain, even though I love his NFL insights, seems to be pressing a bit about access the media should receive from major sports organizations. In a conversation last week discussing the NFL and how some of their injury reports are very vague or purposefully "questionable", McClain made the point that NFL GMs owe it to the fans who pay for their tickets, buy their sponsorships, fill up their suites, and buy their merchandise to communicate with them ... (and here is the line in question) by utilizing the media.

McClain's point was pretty much on the money. Teams do owe it tot he fans to communicate info in a timely, accurate manner. However, I disagree that a power the likes of the NFL "needs" the media to communicate. The NFL knows that many fans get their news straight from the team's website more and more these days. McClain surely knows that too as it has been widely reported that mass media entities, such as a newspaper, are struggling to catch up to a world that appears to have passed them by.

But let's look a little closer. Who is right? The team will obviously skew its coverage towards the positive when the chance presents itself. But the media provides an unbiased look into the issue, thus letting the reader decide.

Right? Maybe, but maybe not. Every fan base has their conspiracy theories about columnists' intentions to undermine an organization. So, albeit that a team site might provide a very "homer" tone to its information, many fans actually want to hear that.

So where are we? Not sure. But I firmly believe there is room for both entities to coexist. But, it will be a work in progress.

Take care.